Myriad of Market Opportunities To Seize

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Myriad of Market Opportunities To Seize

03 juin 2022 17:43

The Cameroon banana sector is facing stiff competition from other producing countries in Africa and Latin America. The European Union (EU) market is the main destination of banana produced in Cameroon with concordant statistics putting the figures at over 90 per cent. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU gives Cameroonian banana a comparative advantage in the EU market given that its market access is unlimited with duty free status. This explains why an overwhelming bulk of Cameroon’s banana is exported to the EU. The EU also supports production to help the fruit be competitive in the market through the accompanying programme. However, experts have decried the overly reliance on a single market given the risk of disruptions that can emerge. It is therefore recommended that banana produced in Cameroon should have a diversified market so as to tap from the myriad of opportunities that exist elsewhere. In doing this, producer association as well as the government have the arduous task to expand Cameroon’s banana market to other parts of the world. In North America, for example, the Canadian market is underexploited. The government also to need negotiate to have Cameroon reinstated as one of the beneficiaries of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Agreement (AGOA) so as to enable agricultural products from Cameroon including banana to be competitive in the US market. In Asia, China, Japan and South Korea also presents huge markets for Cameroonian banana. However, these markets needs to be penetrated through economic partnerships. ...